‘There’s something I want to talk to you about,’ May said to him, as Alicky put the letter safely in her peggy-purse. ‘The Queen has been talking to cousins not much older than I am about their future marriage prospects, but she’s never going to have a chat like that with me, because I’m not ebenbürtig.’

‘That’s a funny word.’ Alicky looked up, interested. ‘What does it mean?’

‘It means “of equal birth”.’

Seeing that Alicky was still puzzled, May added, ‘It means I’m semi-royal and that I don’t have the title Royal Highness, only Serene Highness.’

‘And what is it about being a Serene Highness, and not a Royal Highness, that you want to talk to me about?’ Willy asked.

‘Because I’m not of equal birth and no royal marriage will be arranged for me, what will happen to me? Will anyone aristocratic want to marry me, when I’m not an heiress? Papa has no fortune, for he was only an officer in the Austrian Army when he and Mama married, and he and Mama are always in financial difficulties.’

Willy frowned and twirled an end of his narrow, upturned moustache. ‘Then perhaps the Queen will settle a dowry on you.’ He didn’t sound hopeful. ‘Or perhaps a rich member of the peerage – so rich it won’t matter to him that you are not an heiress − will fall in love with you?’

‘But is that likely to happen, when I’m so very gawky and plain? And as I’m gawky and plain now, I suppose I will still be gawky and plain in another four or five years’ time.’

Unable to deny that what she’d said was a very likely possibility, Willy said nothing.

Not having expected him to, May said dejectedly, ‘And so what is to become of me, Willy? Will I have to marry a commoner?’

‘Lieber Gott, May! You will never be allowed to do that.’ When he was at Osborne, Willy’s English seldom lapsed into German unless other relatives were speaking it, or unless the Queen – in memory of her late beloved husband – interjected a German expression into the conversation. That Willy had done so showed May more clearly than anything else that marrying a commoner was never going to be an option.

Alicky’s pretty face was deeply concerned. ‘Does that mean you are too royal to marry anyone who isn’t, May? And that you are not royal enough to marry anyone who is?’

May squeezed her hand. ‘Yes, Alicky, I think it does. And it makes me feel an outsider and as if I’m not quite part of the family – just as Cousin Willy’s arm makes him feel an outsider and as if he’s not part of the family.’